Chilling radio exchange may hold clues to downing of Malaysia airliner

Security services in Ukraine appear to have intercepted telephone calls between separatists rebel that discuss the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

The audio was posted on Ukraine’s Security Service website in several languages and is also found in several spots on YouTube. The telephone conversations take place between I. Bezler (known as “Bes”) and a man described as his coordinator, Col. V. Geranin, who is said to be with the Russian intelligence service GRU. In the exchange, the militant confirms a plane was shot down and to detail the area in which it fell. Later he describes going to inspect the scene, at which point it becomes clear it’s a civilian airliner that has been downed. (Video shows identities switching to “Major” and “Grek.”) The superior asks how things are going and what has been found:

“Well, we are 100% sure it’s a civilian plane.”

“Are there a lot of people?”

“I haven’t figured out yet. I haven’t got close to the main wreckage. Now I’m near the place where the first bodies started falling …”

In another recording, a militant is reporting to Mykola Kozitsyn, who is described as believed to be a Cossack leader of the rebel movement. They discuss finding bodies of women and children, and an unnamed militant questions why the plane was flying over Ukraine territory.

“Well then it was bringing spies. Why the hell were they flying? This is a war going on,” Kozitsyn is reportedly heard saying.

Watch here:

Some skepticism over the tapes emerged on Twitter, and of course nothing can be confirmed, despite its having been posted on an official Ukraine Security Services website. Some, like ZeroHedge, pointed out that it’s possible two people were just reading from a script.

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